


The Quiet Place

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 17:19:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13322865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: Mac’s friends stage an intervention. Coda to episode 212. Mac’s POV.





	The Quiet Place

They’re waiting for him when he comes back from grocery shopping.

Setting his bags down on the counter, Mac heads for the living room, slowly and with his brows furrowed in puzzlement. Because there they are, Jack and Riley and Matty and Bozer, sitting there and watching him with various degrees of grimness and determination. Mac’s weirdly reminded of…

“Guys?” he asks warily.

“Sit down, Mac,” Bozer tells him and waves his hand at the last remaining armchair, situated right in front of them. “ _We_ are staging an  _intervention_!”

Yeah, that. That’s exactly what this reminds Mac of. The last…  _intervention_ they staged in his very own living room, after they found out that he was still looking for Nikki. But this time, Mac’s sure - well,  _pretty sure_ \- he’s not keeping anything from his friends. He’s learned his lesson. So, what the hell’s going on here?

_“Sit!”_ Bozer orders more firmly.

And Mac obeys, sinking into the armchair, his eyes bouncing from one of his friends to the other uncertainly. What did he  _do_? What do they  _think_ he did? He doesn’t have to wonder long, though, because Bozer gets to the point right away.

“We want you to move,” he states.

Mac blinks rapidly. “I… beg your pardon?” he asks, certain he must’ve heard wrong.

It’s Jack who answers him. Perched on the edge of the fireplace, he nods. “Bozer’s right. You, my friend, need to move out of this house, clear this joint, scamper, live  _anywhere_ but here! Because  _everybody_ seems to know where your nest is these days - our  _enemies_ in particular! - and I don’t think my heart can take yet another surprise visit by any one of them at your home any time soon!”

_So, that’s what this is about?_ Mac rolls his eyes. “Jack, we talked about this–”

“Yes, we did, amigo! While that thing was ticking away happily under both of our asses!” Jack snaps, cutting Mac off. “You told me we should take it one problem at a time, then. Well, now it’s time to do away with this one!”

“It’s not a problem–” Mac objects.

This time it’s Riley who interrupts him. “Mac, no offense but Murdoc tried to  _kill_ you here. He  _kidnapped_ you from here. The Ghost would’ve leveled this whole neighborhood just to get back at you. I think this  _does_ constitute as a problem.”

“That’s… It’s not…” He doesn’t really have a response to that because, well, it’s true.

“And those are just  _two_ of your enemies, Mac,” Matty adds kindly. “What about the La Ola Cartel? Do you think they just forgave and forgot that you destroyed one of their warehouses, a whole lot of their guns  _and_ their meth lab? And what about El Noche? Did you forget about him?”

She looks at him pointedly and Mac drops his eyes, unable to meet her gaze.

Bozer turns to Matty. “Who?”

“Oh, Boze,” Jack says, laughing without merriment. “We’ll need a free afternoon and a lot of booze to cover that one. For now, let’s just say that he set a price on Mac’s head. How much was it?” He looks at Mac, also pointedly. “Four million US dollars?”

“What?” Bozer yelps. Then he turns to Mac, all bug-eyed. “Just  _how many_ enemies do you have that I know nothing about, man?”

_Well…_

“What we’re trying to say, Mac,” Matty continues, “is that you’ve been very lucky so far. The people around you have been very lucky.”

_That’s just a low blow,_  Mac thinks.

“But imagine if your enemies pooled their resources. If they ever decided to join forces, they would have the necessary intel, means and money to take you out, easily so.” Matty shakes her head. “You wouldn’t stand a chance, not even with all our support.”

Mac knows that she’s right. He knows it but… He rubs his face. “ _Matty_ …” he whispers.

“Look, man,” Jack says gently. “I get it, it’s your grandpa’s house, your  _home_. But I think he would want you to  _live_ more than he would want you to keep a piece of real estate, don’t you think?”

Mac’s quiet, staring down at the carpet. He understand where they’re coming from and in their place, he would probably say the same things but… he’s not. He’s not in their place and they’re not in his and as he listens to them, to their arguments, all good and logical and  _right_ , he can feel frustration boiling inside him because,  _no, they don’t get it_!

Jack continues, “I know what it means to get attached to something because it’s the last piece of your loved one left. Remember my dad’s dog tags? So, I know–”

_That’s it._  “No, you don’t!” Mac explodes angrily, taking them all by surprise, and breathing hard, he adds quietly, coldly, “You  _don’t_ know. You  _don’t_ get it!”

His anger lasts only a second, though. The wounded look on Jack’s face snuffs it out in a heartbeat and all of a sudden he feels like a heel for yelling at his friend.

He leans forward, elbows on his knees, and in a soft, imploring voice, he tells Jack, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, as an insult, Jack. I swear. I  _swear_.”

Jack stares at him for a second, then he nods, accepting Mac’s apology.

Mac sighs and rubbing his face, he says, “What I meant was… l-I’m not sure if I can explain it right, why this house’s so important to me.”

“Try,” Matty prompts him kindly.

Leaning back, Mac stares at the ceiling for a moment, thinking about it. Then he looks at them, at one after the other, and says, “What we do every day, it’s a lot.  _A lot!_ And I love my job, I really do, helping people, the thrill of it. But it’s never…  _quiet_. Up here” –he touches his temple– “it’s never quiet. Unless I’m  _here_.  _This_ is my quiet place, this house. I don’t have to think here. I feel…  _safe_ here.”

Jack lifts his eyebrows. “Even after everything?” he asks in disbelief. “After Murdoc and Casper the Unfriendly Ghost?”

Mac rubs his face again. “I know it makes no sense but it is so. Maybe it’s because I have so many fond memories of this place, of my grandfather and the good old…  _normal_ days, but… yeah, even now, I feel safe here. This house, it makes it quiet up here.” He taps at his temple again.

They all stare at him for a very long time, not knowing how to respond, until Mac starts feeling downright uncomfortable. He knew it would be nigh impossible to–

But then. “Fine, no moving out then,” Jack says, stating it as a done deal, and when Mac blinks at him in surprise, he continues, “Onto plan B, then.”

“Plan… B?” Mac asks uncertainly.

“Yes,” Jack replies, nodding. “If you won’t move to a more secure location, then we’ll have to turn this hut into Fort Knox.” He looks around, grimacing a little.

Mac frowns. “What?”

“An actual home security system wouldn’t be amiss, Mac,” Matty explains.

“Yeah, and since the Ghost was nice enough to turn your house into a Swiss cheese, holes everywhere, it shouldn’t take much,” Jack comments.

“Agreed,” Riley nods, smiling a little. “I can work with the security division at the Foundation. If we put our heads together, it shouldn’t take us more than a few days.” She shrugs.

“It’s really not a bad idea, Mac,” Bozer joins in. “I would feel much safer here with something more than a baseball bat under my bed for protection.”

Mac looks from Bozer to Jack who’s smiling a little and nodding encouragingly. Mac feels really touched. And not just because they’re willing to do this for him but because they simply accepted his explanation and didn’t try to convince him that his reasons were irrational or downright stupid. They just rolled with it.

His throat feels thick when he says, “Thanks, guys, that would be-that would be great…”

Jack just shrugs like it’s nothing. “That’s what family’s for, man.”

And Mac smiles and whispers, “Yeah, it really is.”


End file.
